Casandra Martin

My daughter went back to school yesterday. She was home for Christmas break and it was a joy. She will settle back into her routine with friends, classes, homework, and papers and do great. The rest of us will jump into our schedules and miss her like crazy.

What I am noticing this morning is that my house is clean. Too clean. When she is home, you know it. There are shoes, jackets, purses, books, and “girl stuff” everywhere (did I mention shoes?) I stand in the house, look around, and know she’s home. The evidence of her presence is everywhere. There are chick flicks stacked next to a spot that is usually only visited by aliens and superheroes. I can tell when she has walked through a room because there is the hint of a different perfume in the air. The table has its extra chair back. We have to make room in the bathroom. Someone has to sit in the backseat of the van.

There was a time when the mess would have bothered me. Not today. Today she has helped me see God. I want my life to be messy with Jesus. I want the evidence of His presence to be so noticeable in my life that others can’t help but see Him. I long to look around and know that He is at home in my heart. That He has changed what I watch, filled in the empty spaces, challenged me to rearrange my life to make more room for Him, to humble myself so He can sit in the driver’s seat, to smell the aroma of Christ on the air and know that He is walking with me into each room of my life.

My Jesus Resolution calls me to be messy today. To be so filled with Jesus that others can’t help but notice His presence in my life. Want to be messy with me?